Longnose pliers



J 17, 1952 c. A.-SUNDSTRAND LONGNOSE PLIERS Filed Feb. 10, 1947 Irae125? Carl flfiuzzdsffand/ Patented June 17, 1952 UNITED STATES ATENTOFFICE LONGNOSE PLIERS Carl A. Sundstrand, Rockford, Ill.

Application February 10, 1947, Serial No. 727,705

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to pliers and is more particularly concerned withan improved design and construction of longnose pliers especiallyadapted for use by sportsmen for quickly and easily removing the hookfrom a fishs mouth, but also suitable for various other purposes, suchas skinning fish and animals, clipping horns and fins, and so forth,these tools having also been found to be handy for various jobs aroundthe house, such as trimming and pruning vines and shrubs, and pickingflowers and fruit, the selfopening feature and the long-nose designmaking these tools also handy for use around shops on a wide variety ofjobs where other pliers are commonly used and on some jobs where pliersof the old conventional designs are not suitable.

The principal object of my invention is to provide pliers, the elongatedjaws of which are channel-shaped for stiffness and strength and at theirouter ends have the flanges bent inwardly and compressed between dies toprovide end portions of the desired reduced dimensions in relation tothe posterior channel-shaped portions of the jaws, but having thedesired rigidity, strength and durability, these end portions beingpreferably also bent slightly into inwardly offset relationship to theposterior portions and having teeth formed therein on their abuttinginner faces to grip securely whatever work is held between the jaws.

Another object is to provide a tool of the kind described having springmeans to make the jaws self-opening but having a U-shaped Wire bailpivoted to the flanges of the one handle and arranged to be engaged innotches provided in the flanges of the other handle to hold the jawsclosed or nearly so for more convenient packaging in the first instanceand to take up less space in a tool or tackle box.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 are two views. of the improved pliers, Fig. 1 showing indotted lines the closed position of the jaws and the correspondinglocking position of the wire bail that is pivoted on one of the handles,and

Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are sectional details taken on the correspondinglynumbered lines of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 being enlarged.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts in thesefive views.

The reference numerals 6 and 1 designate the handles Ill and H to holdthe jaws open. The two working parts 6 and l of the tool are sheet metalstampings for lightness, strength and economy, substantially identicalblanks being used for'both parts. The jaw end of both parts is formed tothe square-cornered channel section, shown in Fig. 4, and the handle endis formed to the rounded channel section shown in Fig. 5, both sectionsbeing open on the same side of each part, as clearly appears in Fig. 1.The parts are both slotted open between the jaw and handle at the pivotportions l2, and the sides of the one slotted pivot portion are spreadto permit the other part 6 to be inserted therein and the interfittedparts to be pivotally connected by the pin 8. The channel-shaped jawportions of parts 6 and l have the open sides turned away from eachother so that the longitudinally extending flanges l3 which givestrength and rigidity to the jaws are on that side of the webs l4 awayfrom the work and the inside surfaces l5 of said jaws are smooth andwill not mar or scratch the work with which they may come in contact.The flanges [3 are decreased gradually in height from the pivot pin 8outwardly toward the outer end or tip portions It so that there is thegreatest strength and rigidity where the greatest strains are usuallyconcentrated in working with the tool. The tip portions I6, in order topermit entry deep down in the mouth of a fish, for example, to take holdof a fish hook, must be of reduced dimensions in relation to the otherportions of the jaws, but must nevertheless have the desired rigidity,strength and durability so that there will be no danger of theseportions bending. I obtain these characteristics by providing the outerend portions I! of the flanges 12 of a height. approximately equal tohalf the width of the jaws between the flanges so that when theseportions are bent inwardly and laid fiat against the outer side of theweb l4, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, their edges meet on the longitudinalcenterline a,b, these tip portions i6 being bent and flattened to theshape shown between dies under heavy pressure. The tip portions [6 arenot apt to bend relative to the adjacent portions of the jaws becausethose portions of the flanges l3 next to the outer end portions arefolded inwardly, as shown at 18, the folding over of the flanges I3 inthis region being of greater and greater extent going from the standingflanges [3 to the flattened flanges l7. It should, therefore, be clearthat the outer end portions I6l8 of the jaws 6 and l are re forced andhave the desired strength and rigi 3. despite their reduced thickness.The teeth [9 on the abutting inner sides of the end portions it may beformed in the pressing of the parts between dies or may be madesubsequently and are adapted to be sharpened with a file if they becomeflattened in service. These teeth, of course, enable more secure holdingof work between the jaws. The toothed end portions [6 are preferablyofiset inwardly relative to the rest of the jaws approximately to theextent of the depth of the teeth I9, and more, to facilitate gripping apiece of work and enable taking a good hold on a piece of work when theteeth l9 tend to embed themselves in the surface of the work. See thedotted line position in Fig. 1.

The fact that the spring 9 tends to hold the jaws open makes it awkwardto pack the pliers for shipment, and in certain cases would also make itawkward to store the tool in a tool or tackle box, and it is for thatreason I provide the U-shaped wire bail it having coaxially alignedinwardly bent end portions 21 entered freely in coaxially aligned holes22 provided therefor in the opposed side walls 23 of the handle it andarranged to be swung upwardly from the retracted position shown in fulllines in Fig. 1, to the dotted line position in which the cross portion24 of the bail is entered in notches 2:": provided in the edge portionor" the flanges l3 of the jaw '1, whereby to lock the jaws closed ornearly so, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. This ball is locatedin an out of the way position on the handle it and does not, therefore,interfere with the handiness of operation, and when the bail is in theraised position locking the jaws closed, the spring pressure on the jaw1 acts in a direction substantially endwise of the bail, as should beclear from a study of the dotted line position of the bail 20 in Fig. 1,so that there is no likelihood of the bail being actually dislodged fromthe notches 25. However, the bail will drop back to the retractedposition if the operator applies a little pressure on the handles so asto release the pressure of thejaw 7 on the bail.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. A pair of pliers comprising a pair of one piece elongated sheet metaljaw members of channel form from end to end providing an elongatedchannel-shaped jaw on one end portion andan elongated channel-shapedhandle on the other end portion, one of said members having anopeningprovided therein in the intermediate portion between the jaw and handleportions and the sides of said member being laterally spaced at saidopening and the other of said members having its intermediate portionextending through said opening and between said sides, and a pivot pinfor pivotally connecting said intermediate portions, the open sides ofthe channels of the handle portions facing each other but the open sidesof the channels of the jaw portions facing away from each other, theflanges of the channels of the respective jaws decreasing gradually inheight from the pivot pin to a height equal to approximately half thewidth of the jaws adjacent their tip portions, the flanges of thechannels at the tip portion of the jaws being bent inwardly toward eachother and flattened against the web portion of the channel, whereby toprovide double-ply work gripping ends on said jaws which are of reduceddimensions in relation to the posterior channel-shaped portions of theaws.

2. In a pair of pliers consisting of a pair of jaw members providingopposed work gripping portions and having handle portions pivotallyconnected in criss-cross relationship for oscillating the jaw membersrelative to one another, the combination of an elongated U-shaped bailstraddling the outer or hand engageable side of the handle portion ofone of said jaw members near the aforesaid handle pivot and pivoted bythe end portions of the arms of the U to said handle to swing from aninoperative position extending away from the handle pivot to anoperative position extending in the opposite direction, and the otherjaw member having a notch provided in the pivoted portion thereof forengagement of the cross-portion of the U therein when the bail isdisposed in the operative position and the handles are disposed insubstantially closed position, whereby to lock the jaw membersreleasably in substantially closed position.

CARL A. SUNDSTRAND.

REFERENiZES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 11,868 Bernard Nov. 6, 190064,904 Perry et a1. Y May 21, 1867 951,783 Laube Mar. 3, 1910 1,052,982Sturtevant et a1. Feb. 11, 1913 1,076,839 Peter Oct. 28, 1913 1,332,726Hobbs Mar. 2, 1920 1,420,729 Moran et al June 27, 1922 1,745,411 FayFeb. 4,1930

